About Gion Matsuri
Gion Matsuri is Kyoto's grandest festival, held throughout July and dating back over a thousand years to a purification ritual against plague. Its highlights are the Yamaboko Junko processions, when enormous, lavishly decorated wooden floats — some weighing many tonnes and towering several storeys — are hauled through the streets to the creak of ancient wheels. On the evenings before, the old townhouses open and the streets fill with lanterns, yukata and food stalls. It is a stately, deeply traditional counterpoint to Japan's rowdier matsuri.
“A thousand years of tradition hauled through Kyoto's streets. Stately, rare and beautiful.”
Traveller reviews
Write a reviewGion Matsuri is one of the great treasures of Kyoto, and seeing the Yamaboko floats up close never loses its magic. The evenings before the parade, Yoiyama, are my favourite, when the old streets fill with lanterns, yukata and festival music. Come for the procession, but stay for those warm July nights.
A thousand years of tradition hauled through the streets on enormous wooden floats, one of the most atmospheric festivals I have been to. It is stately rather than raucous, so come for the spectacle and the history, not a party. July in Kyoto is punishingly hot and the crowds are huge, so stake out your spot early.
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Gion Matsuri official site
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